Fahrenheit 451

An important statement against censorship, this book presents a prophetic vision of a world where people are pre-occupied by 'popular entertainment' and distracted away from any serious thought or real knowledge (as represented by books). The disturbing similarity of this fictional world to the one we actually live in today, makes this a thought-provoking must-read. I must say, however, that I am...more

An important statement against censorship, this book presents a prophetic vision of a world where people are pre-occupied by 'popular entertainment' and distracted away from any serious thought or real knowledge (as represented by books). The disturbing similarity of this fictional world to the one we actually live in today, makes this a thought-provoking must-read. I must say, however, that I am not a big fan of the writing style. Points are driven home without much subtlety. It sounds a little preachy in places, and this diminishes the urgency of the message for me. Even the imagery of book-burning, though very provocative, ultimately makes the world of Fahrenheit 451 seem more un-real and distant than it actually is. The other problem is that the book never gets past the central premise to explore questions like why or how such a world might come to pass in any real detail. This is probably because it was originally written as a short novella. However, in this case, I would have liked to see a sequel!   hide

I think people have commonly misinterpreted this book as being about state censorship. While the firemen are in fact state-appointed censors, it is apparent that it is the people themselves that have caused the censorship to become so widespread in the first place (as Beatty alludes to). The state willingly cooperates in this censorship because it maintains that status quo and makes its citezens...more

I think people have commonly misinterpreted this book as being about state censorship. While the firemen are in fact state-appointed censors, it is apparent that it is the people themselves that have caused the censorship to become so widespread in the first place (as Beatty alludes to). The state willingly cooperates in this censorship because it maintains that status quo and makes its citezens easy to control and manipulate. The main theme I got was about people's willingness to give up critical thought because it is simply easier to be a "sheep," and have someone else do the thinking for you. Such a society has crumbled into a cultural wasteland, where citizens are not happy (but in denial), engage in violence against thier fellow man, have no family values, are out of touch with the natural world and have empty souls. The similarities to contemporary western society are chilling.This book is a must-read. Incredibly powerful, but told through Bradbury's subtle and beautiful prose.   hide

First off, I really, really wanted to read this, thanks to my grade 11 teacher M. Comeau. About two-thirds of the way through, there suddenly appeared many cases of profanity, in most cases, the word d---. I ignored most of them blissfully, at first reading anyways, and only noticed it when I looked back on the page (I'm the type of reader that scans the page and rereads it for detail when I...more

First off, I really, really wanted to read this, thanks to my grade 11 teacher M. Comeau. About two-thirds of the way through, there suddenly appeared many cases of profanity, in most cases, the word d---. I ignored most of them blissfully, at first reading anyways, and only noticed it when I looked back on the page (I'm the type of reader that scans the page and rereads it for detail when I think I've missed something important). I figured there were more than enough instances to merit myself a -5 for the book. Interesting concepts though, and Ray Bradbury is definitely an intriguing author. I also question why Hugh Hefner shows up in so many literary circles; you wonder how the Playboy King gets into them in the first place. Good read; I'd love to buy a copy, run through the swears with a black highlighter and lend it out for a thought-provoking read. One more note: ironically, there are Biblical quotes in this book. Queer.   hide

Fahrenheit 451 is about a future where books are outlawed, people love to watch tv commercials instead of expanding their minds, and firemen START fires instead of putting them out. (What better way to dispose of contraband books?)I started this book with very high expectations. My father was extremely fond of Ray Bradbury, and frankly I don't understand what all the fuss is about this...more

Fahrenheit 451 is about a future where books are outlawed, people love to watch tv commercials instead of expanding their minds, and firemen START fires instead of putting them out. (What better way to dispose of contraband books?)I started this book with very high expectations. My father was extremely fond of Ray Bradbury, and frankly I don't understand what all the fuss is about this book. The future world that is portrayed is interesting enough. I am quite a bibliophile and hearing about what they did with books... I really felt that. The style left me wanting, and many of the scenes were painfully unrealistic, even for a novel of this type. I personally would recommend reading this book simply because it is not very long and is such a 'classic' that it is worth having an opinion on.   hide

This story is an amazing story. It's a real thinker. I think the writing is not top notch as some parts had an odd flow, but the central theme is timeless. GREAT book. Ok, I won't consider book as the most well written as the 100 word, 1 sentence paragraphs with twenty commas sometimes were distracting, but this book is a thinker. Writen over 50 years ago and in some ways it may apply...more

This story is an amazing story. It's a real thinker. I think the writing is not top notch as some parts had an odd flow, but the central theme is timeless. GREAT book. Ok, I won't consider book as the most well written as the 100 word, 1 sentence paragraphs with twenty commas sometimes were distracting, but this book is a thinker. Writen over 50 years ago and in some ways it may apply more now then it did then. If you read this and think it is about censorship then you need to re-read it or think on it, as Bradbury really doesn't talk about censorship at all, but rather uniformity. It to me shows how things like political correctness taken to the extremes is bad for all of us. The more alike we become, the less meaningful things we have to talk and think about and the more boring and worthless our lives become. I read this and it made me think how when I was younger I always said I would never grow up to be who I am in many ways now. I don't often think on big and unusual ideas like I seemed to when I was in school or just sitting around and talking to my friends. Technology can free us and connect us, as Facebook does, but it can also isolate us as never before. It felt good to pick up a book and read it instead of reading short online articles or magazines. If you feel your life is in a rut and is missing something and you do a lot of "nothing" I suggest picking this book up and reading it and thinking about it. Shoot me your thoughts on it if you need someone to talk to about it or about anything outside of the ordinary. It is short, about 150-160 pages, I think, and it will be done soon enough, but hopefully some of it will cling to you for a while to think on, turn over and ponder.   hide

Wow, this book is scary. It was written back in 1953 but it feels like it's happening today. This book follows Guy Montag, a fireman, only in the future, firemen don't put out fires, they start them. This book sucks you in so that you feel like you're going through all the things Montag goes through, and he goes through some mind-bending changes as he wakes up to how dead people have become in...more

Wow, this book is scary. It was written back in 1953 but it feels like it's happening today. This book follows Guy Montag, a fireman, only in the future, firemen don't put out fires, they start them. This book sucks you in so that you feel like you're going through all the things Montag goes through, and he goes through some mind-bending changes as he wakes up to how dead people have become in real life (it has a lot in common with "The Matrix" in that way).Bradbury deals with teen violence, war, shallow entertainment and "info-tainment," the speed of modern life, consumerism, commercialism, sound-bite politics, endless and unjustified war, divorce, fascism, alienation and a million other things that we struggle with here in the 21st century. It really is frightening how prophetic he was- how much we've become like the world of the future he describes. Wide-screen High Definition, interactive TVs, iPods, well, except that everybody drives VW Beetles instead of SUVs!Of course, if you've never heard anything about this book before, I may as well tell you that it mainly deals with censorship and reading. It's short, fast paced and exciting. Hope you're not afraid of robot spider dogs with hypodermic needles filled with poison, or of fire!   hide

The premise of the book intrigued me. I mean, people burning books! That is somewhat considered blasphemous to me. I applaud the book for posing such a dark, disturbing theme and turning it into the book. The irony of it all! A book about people opposing books and burning them. It kinda makes you think, doesn't it? What if this world has no books? What if the television is heavily relied upon...more

The premise of the book intrigued me. I mean, people burning books! That is somewhat considered blasphemous to me. I applaud the book for posing such a dark, disturbing theme and turning it into the book. The irony of it all! A book about people opposing books and burning them. It kinda makes you think, doesn't it? What if this world has no books? What if the television is heavily relied upon as entertainment? Despite the book being published in 1953, it has stood the test of time and, in some sense, is applicable to our world today. Throughout, it presented a lot of situations and scenarios. Not only about books per se, but also about how dysfunctional society is today and how greatly they rely upon the goggle box. Has television, and other following forms of medium, suppressed our thoughts and destroys the interest of reading books? One of the gripes I have about the book is specifically the style that it was written. The characters spout off sentences that reads like monologues instead of how proper human being speak. Bradbury did state towards the end of the book that he didn't particularly like it if books shorten dialogues and such, believing them to be stunting the actual meaning of how the story was meant to convey. But seriously now- it's not that believable when characters blabber and meander a lot. Another problem that I would also like to highlight is the ending. It felt too abrupt. Like, I felt that there were a few missing strings, some plot holes, that were left in the dark when Bradbury did the ending. Questions still linger.   hide

This exploration of a society void of literary knowledge and incapable of intelligent conversation is both frightening and thought-provoking. Imagine a culture in which the people cannot think coherently and have no desire to really learn anything about philosophy, religion, or theory. A society stuck with useless, mundane facts spouted off to them in school as a tool to make them think that they...more

This exploration of a society void of literary knowledge and incapable of intelligent conversation is both frightening and thought-provoking. Imagine a culture in which the people cannot think coherently and have no desire to really learn anything about philosophy, religion, or theory. A society stuck with useless, mundane facts spouted off to them in school as a tool to make them think that they are expanding their minds, when in reality they are merely filling their heads with useless information. A society where firemen don't stop fires, but rather start them in order to get rid of books. A society of a mindless mass of people who sit and watch television all day, lowering their attention spans with every moment and not able to focus on a plotline that lasts more than five minutes. What's scary is that this is what society seems to be turning into - most people would rather watch tv nowadays than sit down with a book. Television shows have begun to feed us useless facts instead of conveying ideas. People have become more interested in watching other people's lives played out before them instead of reading and thinking about any sort of intellectual or philosophical way of life. It's almost as though Bradbury predicted what television would do to society back in 1950, when he first came out with the short-story version of this book, "The Fireman." In my opinion, everyone should read this book. It's a social commentary and an almost 'what if?' scenario if things continue the way they are going now. For follow-up, I would suggest the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman, which talks about the different ways that the media has begun to shape our lives.   hide

it has such a powerful message that it manages to both whisper and scream. ray bradbury does things to words that other people do with paint, or film or glass. he so masterfully portrays a time in the unspecified future but does so without any long descriptive paragraphs. he leaves so many blanks and challenges the reader to fill them in. it's engaging,...more

it has such a powerful message that it manages to both whisper and scream. ray bradbury does things to words that other people do with paint, or film or glass. he so masterfully portrays a time in the unspecified future but does so without any long descriptive paragraphs. he leaves so many blanks and challenges the reader to fill them in. it's engaging, whats-going-to-happen-next-what-is-this-all-about reading. his dystopia doesn't have robots ruling the world, or puritanical right-wing fundamentalists taking over. it has people who give up on engaging socially and intellectually. Censorship isn't started by the state, its by an indifferent, lazy, spoilt, apathetic people who are over-stimulated by multimedia. Ipods are thimble-sized ear implants. Wide-screen TVs are WALLS, four of them the ideal, in the living room, and referred to as "the family". Suicide and sleeping pills are commonplace, stomach pumping done by "tradesmen" with portable stomach-sucking machines. Firemen start fires. Burning houses with books in them, often with the "readers" burnt alive inside. so rich on so many levels. i loved this book. S   hide